The Road to Eleusis: Unveiling the Secret of the Mysteries

Hegel’s Owl of Minerva: Chthonic Avatars of The Elusinsian MysteriesThe classic 1978 Triumvirate Psychedelic-Hermeneutic of Hellenistic myth, adorned with threads of transubstantiality evidenced by epopte testimonies of mushroom-induced phasmata, invites the reader quite literally into the Underworld of Hades with portends of the very foundations of Western Civilization. An entheogen apologetic gospel which encourages, for those who are ready, an embrace of Platonic anamnesis enlivened by becoming devotees of the ancient Eleusinian Mysteries and its revival: a liturgical portal into a mystical pantheistic realm ontologically imbued with apotheosis with a preview to the end of history. This classic treatise explores the contours of numerous Greek myths as both allegory and transcendent revelations from theophanies with zealous depictions of chthonic hypostases esteemed as otherworldly altered states of redemption where earthly death is shown only to be an illusion. This, the authors’ avant-garde thesis, is proffered as a 20th century cosmopolitan epiphany.Immanentize the Eschaton: Leary’s Turn on, Tune in, Drop outHesitancy about whether this really is an accurate portrayal of their 1978 psychedelic clarion call may be assuaged by reading Brian Muraresku’s, “The Immortality Key”, as he traversed the Mediterranean in a 12 year search for archeological evidence of pharmakon athanasias to affirm or falsify the thesis of “The Road To Eleusis”. This psychedelic gospel is further explored in William Richard’s, “Sacred Knowledge”, and Graham Hancock’s, “Supernatural”. Further evidence aplenty is only YouTube podcasts away with testimonies given by Muraresku and Professor Ruck. In that spirit, Emerson’s, “The Over Soul”, provides the metaphoric fabric for the authors’ epistemological grounding which proved helpful to this reader in understanding their philosophical approach in this fascinating exploration of myth hemmed in by Plato and Nietzsche. To understand the thematic thread of the 7 essays of this radical historical work, this reviewer would recommend reading the Prefaces, Hindsight, Foreward, Afterward, and Appendix first before venturing into the main essays as excavation of their philosophical starting point is crucial if one is to appreciate their weaving together of botanical, biochemical and classical threads to evidence the otherwise taboo hallucinogenic impact upon Western Civilization, and heretofore, regarded as specious by academia.Categorical Contours of Kantian Noumena: Climbing the Ladder of Self-ConsciousnessThe bookend allusion found in the Second Edition Preface pointing to Plato’s Cave Allegory and of Nietzsche’s Madman initiates and prepares the reading audience for an encounter with an archetypal, Platonic, otherworldly plane bearing redemptive gnosis covenanted with Nietzsche’s Dionysian spirit which frames our Hellenistic pillar of Western Civilization. Between these bookends, a shamanist fusion of the outer limits of noumena and phenomena occurs sparked by Dionysian hallucinogens in which the devotee is granted passage into a realm of ethereal platonic forms, phasmata and the pantheistic divine.Their diachronic thread of the Eleusinian Mystery and particularly the inclusion of the map of the sanctuary’s telesterion, the sine qua non of these phantasms and manifestations of underworld gods and goddesses given guarded testimony to by such historical figures as Pindar, Sophocles, and Plato, is best illustrated in Chapter 4, Ancillary Data: “From beginning to end here there was a reenactment of a sacred drama in which the initiates as well as the officiants had their role to play, until at last they experienced as actors the ineffable, all of the senses and emotions being shot through with what would thereafter be forever the unspeakable.” (p.63) We learn in The Homeric Hymn to Demeter, center stage in this sacred leitmotif of death and rebirth ritual, appended to Wasson’s ethnomycologial study of an inebriating mushroom cult in Mexico AND to Hoffman’s experiments in hallucinogenic potency, that they present and build their case upon the Eleusinian Mysteries ergot-kykeon spiked thesis which they proffer as poetically-biochemically satisfying.Toffler’s Third Wave: Cathedrals of KetamineThis psychedelic gospel, rooted in vine plant and grain allegories, depicting Dionysus traveling on winged chariots drawn by serpents, reminiscent of The Book of Ezekiel, represent iconic symbols for the Eleusinian compact with this chthonic world for well over two millennia AND highlighted by the leadership of priestesses with depictions of opprobrious ergine-isoergine induced Erinyes. These agrarian icons, imagery and pageantry of deliverance, brought to my mind Queen’s, “Who Wants To Live Forever”. The authors, mystagogues of Eleusis, have answered in this thought provoking 1978 prelude by invoking the use of entheogenic heaven and hell drugs in the spirit of Aldous Huxley with ketamine infusion therapies already streaming across our fruited plains.“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven…” Milton, Paradise Lost

Since more than two thousand years the road to Eleusis is abandoned. Nobody visits the shrine anymore. No one could explain what the Mysteries really were. But some scholars - long before this book was written - presumed what the Mysteries really were. They believed that the principal idea of the Eleusinian Mysteries was the resurrection of life and the Mysteries used the metaphor of the grain that fell in the soil and died while giving 'birth' to a new straw. Life and death were linked together and that would mean eternal life. Drugs were given by the priestesses of the shrine to the attendance so that their delusional state of mind made them convinced that the words they heard were the truth: eternal life.In conclusion I would like to point out that this book has cultural and scientific value. It should not be disregarded.It also contains a new translation of The Homeric Hymn to Demeter as a source for the myth that underlies Eleusis.

This book was written before many others on the same subject. Wasson had less scholarship to work with and so he took a molehill of facts and used the technique of evocation to build a mountain of a book. In retrospect, he got it right most of the time. In situ, Wasson's evocative writing style is very poetic and dreamy. I enjoyed this book more than all of his others because he took me right to the Eleusinian mysteries and made me feel that I was right there sitting among my fellow initiates.Wasson is one of those writers that became better with each book he produced. His books are like fine-wine, they have aged extremely well, are still relevant and always enjoyable. This book belongs in the entheogenic Corpus. It is a quick and enjoyable read and you won't regret buying it.

More than information (which it has in spades) this book reminds me that people down through the ages have demanded Transcendence. It is our birth right to access our spiritual curiosity, and that can be interpreted as either an internal state through brain chemistry, or an external imposition from a Greater Power. I don't care either way HOW it comes, just as long as we are able to engender it. The hysterical prohibition by recent (paternalistic) political forces is to be torn down. This is not a recreational matter, even though the use of entheogens has been folded into our culture for that purpose - this is a genuine altered state that should be respected, but not prohibited.

Finally, humanity's oldest and most participated in ancient mystery has been solved. A fascinating account and realistic answer to the question of what occurred during the ancient mystery religion at Eleusis; how the sacred kykeon was prepared, how the initiates were prepared for the event, and its meaning and significance in ancient Greek society. Written by those best qualified to speak on the subject: Gordon Wasson - mycologist, Albert Hofmann - chemist, and Carl A. P. Ruck - Classical scholar specializing in the ethnobotany of ancient Greece. The 30th Anniversary Edition (2008) includes an appendix on kykeon chemistry by Peter Webster.

Fantastic book, I would recommend this to anyone looking to learn more about the role of psychedelic substances in the ancient mystery religions.

I have been wondering since the year 2000 when I first visited Eleusis about the mysteries of the place. Rituals were performed her regularly in ancient Greece,but the penalty for revealing the nature of said rites was death. This book contains the most likely solution to the mystery.S. Archer

A very readable series of academic essays on the role of entheogenic fungi in the ancient world. This work is now over thirty years old and still relevant today to those pondering the history and meaning of the entheogenic experience. Some useful footnotes from the authors bring things up to date.The hymn to Demeter is perhaps hard to follow but would have been widely known in its day.It seems she might not have been the goddess of wheat but of the fungus that grew on it and the experience it engendered.

What a brilliant book, this kind of information should be taught at schools to educate our children about true history, this book is very well written and I am sure I will be reading again. What a treasure for a cheap price :)

Obviously they were not called "The Mystery's" for nothing, and much of what went on at Eleusis remains just that. But, this book presents a great theory into what may be The central theme or inspiration to the initiate. As well as the theory there's some great background on the mythology that was central to the Eleusinian Mystery's. I would highly recommend this to a broad spectrum of readers from those who are interested in the history of pre Hellenistic era Greece, Philosophy, Theology, Esotericism, Ontology, Epistemology, and Entheogenic Substances.

Very solid arguments but my biggest interest was the arguments they used to presemt their cases, of which there are many. Im inclined to agree that kykeon likely included ergot as an ingredient.

Very good book, good cover, good size, good printing. Very happy with the product.